My Frustration With Canceling A Credit Card

Your three digit credit score is one of the most important numbers in the world. Those three little digits can open doors for you financially or slam on you faster than the Road Runner running away from Wile E. Coyote!

Sometime last year my wife and I opened up a credit card account that had a 0% APR for 24 months with no annual fee! What a find that was because we were having to make a large purchase and after seeing this offer, it was like getting free money for a loan. So we signed up for the card, made the purchase, paid it off within six months and we’re done with it. Now this card wasn’t one of those points type of cards where you get rewarded for your loyalty through perks. So the card has been on the office desk at home and instead of being tempted to go out and buy something else with this ‘free cash’, we decided to cancel the card. That’s where things get interesting.

I called the number on the back of the card and eventually got a human to speak with. After telling her my name, credit card number and the three digit number on the back of the card she asks for the password on the account. That’s something I don’t recall setting up so I tell her “I don’t know.”

She replies with, “It begins with the letter ‘D’ as in David.”

So I say, “David!”

She said, “No. It begins with the letter ‘D’ as in David.”

So I once again repeated to her “David” because I had no clue what the password was.

Then she said she would have to get someone on the line from the early fraud department. So when the she conferenced in this other person on the phone I had to once again tell them everything about the account except for my social security number (which was odd) and this new rep asks me, “What is the security password on the account? It begins with the letter ‘D’ as in David.”

I replied just the same with this lady. “David. But the first lady told me that wasn’t correct. All I want to do is cancel the card. I don’t want it any more.”

This lady then tells the first that this call belongs to her and that she’d be taking it over from this point because it’s now her department. So after talking with her a bit she says, “I need for you to talk to one more person about cancelling the card and you’ll then be finished.”

When she finally transferred me to the next guy, it seemed as if he was trying everything he could to keep that card in my possession and use it often. He says, “I see this card is less than a year old and your balance is zero. You’ve got a 0% APR on the card and that is still in effect for the next 6 months. Why is it you’re wanting to cancel the card?”

I tell him, “I no longer need it or want it. I have another card through your company already that I use.”

Here’s where I got the impression that he didn’t want me to let the card go, “Well Larry, I can extend your 0% for another six months and give you 5% more in rewards points.”

I said, “This card doesn’t have reward points on it!”

His reply, “Oh that is something new we’ve started with this card, so I can increase your earnings by 5% for the next six months on purchases.”

I told him, “No thanks. I just want to cancel the card and be done with it.”

He tried another tactic and I just had to interrupt him with, “Please, just cancel the card. I do not want it any longer.”

He then said the card is cancelled but if I change my mind within the next three months, that my information would be on file and I could reopen the account.

Well, after telling a few people in the office this story, it reminded one of them about the guy that tried to cancel his AOL account years ago. This guy heard about how hard AOL worked to keep you as a customer that he recorded the call. I had never seen this report, but after watching it it was pretty unbelievable. It made my attempt to cancel the credit card look pretty easy!

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